6- OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
		
		
		Love and concern of a mother for her child is beautifully 
		portrayed in iconography by the Mother of God and the 
		Child Jesus. In all icons of the Mother of God she is 
		never seen without her Son. Our praise for the Mother of 
		God is never separated from her role in the events of our 
		salvation. One of the most famous icons is the Icon of Our
		Lady of Perpetual Help, an icon cherished the world-over 
		in both Eastern and Western Churches. The Slavic mentality
		sees in the Mother of God human tenderness. The Divine 
		Infant appears as a true infant. He cuddles up to His 
		mother's bosom and hugs her with one arm.
		
		
		The icon portrays Mary holding Christ in her left arm. 
		Jesus seems to be frightened by the vision of two angels 
		showing Him the instruments of His passion and death. In 
		His mother he finds the greatest comfort and tenderness. 
		In His haste to run into her protective arms, He almost 
		loses one of His tiny sandals. His hands are pressed 
		firmly into His mother's palms as He holds on to her 
		thumb. Mary, although holding Jesus in her arms 
		reassuringly, looks straight ahead at the viewer as if to 
		invite us to follow Jesus' example and turn to her for 
		consolation and help. 
		
		
		The Greek letters are abbreviations for the subjects they 
		identify. MP OY stands for the Mother of God. IC XC 
		stands for Jesus Christ. OAPM stands for St. Michael the 
		Archangel, and OAPG stands for St. Gabriel the Archangel. 
		The gold background represents the Kingdom of God, and the
		gold shining through the clothing reflects the joy and 
		glory of the Kingdom. The icon invites us to become 
		sharers in this glory. 
		
		
		THEOTOKION -O gentle Protectress of Christians, unfailing 
		Mediatrix before the Creator, do not despise the prayerful
		voices of sinners; but, in your goodness, hasten to assist
		us who trustfully cry out to you: "Inspire us to prayer, 
		and hasten to hear our supplication. Intercede always, 
		Mother of God, in behalf of those who honor you."
	

		The only way out is truth
		
		
		Everyone has something they are ashamed of, afraid of or that 
		the feel guilty about. Each of us in our own way will devise 
		a neat little method of handling it. Some of us deny. Some of 
		us blame. Some of us do a combination of both. Undoubtedly the 
		day will come when we will be forced to examine that which we 
		have tucked away. We can willingly begin the process of 
		examination by telling the truth to ourselves about ourselves. 
		We all have the right to make mistakes. Our fault is being 
		righteous about it. When we fail to admit our faults, the 
		faults become what everyone can see. When we refuse to admit 
		what we have done in the past, we block our path to the future.
		No matter how terrible we think we are, how bad we believe we 
		have been, how low we think we have fallen, we can clean out 
		our minds and begin again.
		
		
		You've got to get the mind cleared out before you put the 
		truth in it.
		

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